Airline Promotion and marking communication

Dr Keith Mason FRAeS

Istanbul Technical University

Air Transportation Management, M.Sc. Program

Airline Marketing

April 2016

Airline Promotion

Dr Keith Mason

Head, Centre for Air Transport Management

Definition of Advertising

• The term advertising is derived from the Latin advertere meaning “ to turn the

mind around”

• A communication that is paid for, with the purpose of achieving set objectives

such as creating awareness or encouraging trial. It is a means of reaching

large audiences through mass media in a cost effective manner

• Advertising should persuasively communicate ideas, images, feelings and

tones relative to their brands and service to their target audience so that the

customers perceptions mirror those intended by the company

The communication process

What message?

Response hierarchy models

Source: Kotler, 2006, a) Strong, 1925, b) Lavidge and Steiner, c) Rogers, 1962, and d) various

Response hierarchy models

• Picking an appropriate response hierarchy model – the stages through which

buyers go through will depend on the sort of product being purchased.

• High involvement/high differentiation – “Learn-Feel-Do”

– E.g. Cars or house purchases

• High involvement/low differentiation – “Do-Feel-Learn”

– E.g. Airlines and computers (consequently sampling the service is very

important)

• Low involvement/low differentiation – “Learn-Do-Feel”

– E.g. Salt or batteries

Barriers to successful delivery of a

message

• Selective attention

– With so many commercial messages put in front of a potential customer, the

advertiser must grab attention. Think about how you watch a programme or

read a magazine – you tend to filter out adverts that hold no relevance for you.

• Selective distortion

– People hear what they want to hear. Belief about a company will be set in a

person’s mind and will view the advert in light of this belief set. This is a

particular challenge when trying to change positioning (e.g. Ryanair’s

repositioning in 2014)

• Selective retention

– Even when a person is positive to a message heard, will they choose to retain

it in their long term memory? Kotler indicates that when a person rehearses

arguments in favour of (or even against) a particular message they are more

likely to retain the message.

Kotler, 2006, Marketing Management, edit 12, p. 540

Customers

• Business– Network, schedule, seat comfort, on-board business facilities, lounges

– You may be away but you are close to home and loved ones

• Leisure– Destination, in-flight service, cabin crew, and price

– To persuade customers

• to take a holiday in preference to the purchase of goods such as appliances

• to go to a destination that airline serves

• to fly with the advertised airline than its competitors

• VFR– Family reunion, care and consideration of staff and price

Advertising Objectives

• Project the corporate image

• Promote specific product features or new markets

• Motivate staff

• Influence policy makers

• Influence trade

Advertising objectives:

Influence customers

• Retain existing customers

• Increase customer usage of the service

• Attract new customers

• Convert customers from competing services

• Reassure that they bought the best

• Remind them of the reason why they prefer the brand

Targeted Advertising

• Airlines have a complex mix of product and services

• Time or the space in which the message could get across is limited

• Customers bombarded by advertising all the time

• Customers attention spans are shrinking

• Surprise, delight, humour to attract attention

Advertising Message

Differentiated products

Similar products

High consumer awareness

Rational product attribute appeals

Information provision

Benefit claims (e.g. “I am a Mac”)

Emotional image-based appeals

Social, ego, pleasure orientation

Airline advertising tends to focus here

But should focus here

Communications mix

Personal Selling

Branding

Sales Promotion

Public relations

Merchandising

Direct Marketing

Exhibitions

Word of Mouth

Internal Marketing

Corporate Image

Packaging

Sponsorship

Advertising

The Customer

Viral

Media

• Broadcast – TV, radio and cinema

• Print- Newspapers, magazines, trade press,..

• Outdoor – Billboards, posters, on vehicles,…

• The Internet

– Social networking

• Classification of Media

– Above-the-line – paid to some media outlet: TV, radio, press, outdoor,

cinema

– Below-the-line: direct mail, exhibitions, print, sales literature, carrier

bags,…

Media (1)

• TV

– Popular media for airline advertising

– Viewership is very important – potentially large audience

– High awareness

– Viewed at home in relaxed manner

– Demonstration of service in use

– Around 25% of airline advertising budget is spent on TV advertising

– Very effective for promoting the brand

BUT

– Expensive to make and transmit (£70,000 per minute)

– Could be irritating

– Transient medium

– Advert avoidance by skipping

Avoiding the advertsGoogle research, 2014

Super Bowl Ad Rates (2016)

2015 2016

$4.5m

$5.0m

Media (2)

• Radio– Relatively easy and quick to produce

– Commercial radio stations located near to airports often used

– Relatively cheap (around £6,000 per minute)

– Used to promote special offers for a limited period of time

BUT

– Lack in visual demonstration

– Transient medium

Media (3)

• News Papers/ Magazine– Readership – potential for high readership

– Opportunity of colour reproduction

– National Readership Survey would allow careful targeting

– Advertisements are expected by readers

– Long life spans

– Read at leisure

BUT

– Relatively expensive (£50,000 for a full page of newspaper, £20,000 Full page of magazines)

– Location of the ads in the papers or magazines is important

Media (4)

• Outdoor

– Ability to build high awareness

– Relatively low costs- depends on location

– Segmentation possibilities

• BUT

– Could be subject to the effect of weather

– Could be subject to environmental criticism

– If reachable could be subject to vandalism

• Internet– Own websites

– Other peoples web pages – click throughs

– Social networking - viral

Traditional media are becoming

less effective

• Market fragmentation

• Higher advertising costs

• Diminishing audiences (audience split between greater number of media

choices (multi-channel TV, digital radio, etc.))

• Changes in market and consumer behaviour

Source: Evans (1996, Jnl of Marketing Comms, Vol. 2, pp 51-65)

Points to Consider

• Be first: In the future most of the features will be replicated eventually by other airlines but like the second man on the moon or the second man to run a four minute mile, no-one can remember who they are!

• Speed is very important: the sheer pace that an airline can move when it puts its mind to it

• Be different: Don’t be different for “different” sake– Find what is true to your brand and let that define you and allow you to stand apart from the

competition

– Make it easy for the consumer to define you

Aircraft

Product

2008

What is it about armpits?Aer Lingus 2014

Where is the shower? Emirates,

2015

“How you like me now?” – AA,

2015!

Service

Service recovery (2008)

Meet the Team – Cathay (2010)

Destinations

2007

Destination selfies – Kobe, Messi,

TK, 2014

Destinations

New destination

(with a Swiss logo!)

Destination culture - beyond the

guidebook

Inbound advert

for Singapore

market

Alliances

Original concept

Humour and product

Humour and price

Product -

Lie flat bed (M&C Saatchi, 2002)

Premium

Economy

Product (Freudian?)

Cabin Crew (Freudian)

American Airlines 1968

Sex sells (still)

Nok (2013)

And FR likes getting into hot

water……

IT GETS THEM PR COVERAGE

But perhaps hard to reposition

itself.

Cuddly things get you to emote

Outdoor promotion can be very

effective

EXCEPT AT NIGHT

So can indoors – but think about

location

Comparative/political

To Fly, To Serve

BA 2011

easyJet response

Summary

• Advertising is just one element of the marketing bundle

• Advertisers demand results that could be measured

• Internet is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of promotional activities

• Customer perception and acceptability of a brand is dependent on every point of contact: at the shop; the product itself; the advertising; the service….

• The message, type of celebrities, media should be in line with the image the airline is trying to project

• It is harder to match a good advert than a price cut!